US mobile phone usage - hyperconnected youth

There aren't many digital and media stats that make my jaw drop. Sure, Facebook's stats are staggering, but its walled garden business model has helped it create a near monopoly on family social networking.

Then along comes a Pew Internet study that shows that:

Young adults are the most avid texters by a wide margin. Cell owners between the ages of 18 and 24 exchange an average of 109.5 messages on a normal day—that works out to more than 3,200 texts per month—and the typical or median cell owner in this age group sends or receives 50 messages per day (or 1500 messages per month).

An average exchange of 109.5 text messages per day.

That made my jaw drop. Maybe because now that I'm 30 i'm considered a mobile senior citizen or maybe I just don't have many friends.

Consider the time it would take to receive then send that many messages and then add other social networking activities such as Facebook and Twitter. That is dedication to connection.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project contains plenty of informative research, have a good read.